The Garden As Architecture: Form and Spirit in the Gardens of Japan, China and Korea

Gardens and their related architecture have always been designed in Japan, China, and Korea as a single, cohesive environment. The particular forms that these environments took over the centuries naturally reflect each country's differing aesthetic principles, but were also governed by other concerns--from religious beliefs and social structure to simple spatial or climatic constraints. In his exploration of the history of garden design in the Far East, Toshiro Inaji offers a fascinating study of changing cultural and aesthetic values.The Garden as Architecture is the first book published in English to focus on the strikingly different interpretations made by these three countries--in their gardens and architecture--of the Buddhist, Confucianist, Taoist, and geomantic principles that have informed their cultures since ancient times. This pioneering study makes clear just how and why the approaches taken by neighboring countries were so different.Inaji begins by looking at extant gardens in Japan, China, and Korea, and then traces back over the broad social, philosophical, and cultural circumstances that gave rise to period forms, in an effort to uncover what residential gardens and architecture were understood to mean at significant turning points in their development. He defines the prototype of garden-and-residential environments in each country, and considers the ways in which specific design solutions express the prototype while also meeting the functional criteria of a site. This approach gives readers the deep background they need to view gardens of the Far East with a more informed eye. It reveals--and demystifies--the genius of these garden-and-architectural environments.This heavily illustrated, comprehensive volume contains more than 150 photographs of the most significant gardens and related architecture in the Far East. Additional information is provided by nearly 200 schematic line drawings. The Garden as Architecture is a milestone in Western access to the traditions of Far Eastern garden design, architecture, and thought.Features:More than 150 photographsNearly 200 schematic line drawings.